The son of an Oakland city councilwoman was shot and killed near the University of Southern California in Los Angeles early Sunday, according to sources.

Victor McElhaney, son of Oakland council member Lynette Gibson McElhaney and a student at the university, walked into a robbery in progress at a liquor store near the campus when he was shot, sources told NBC News and NBC Bay Area.

"I miss my baby. Please keep me, my family, and all of my son's friends in your thoughts and prayers," Gibson McElhaney wrote. "We are beginning a new chapter in this reoccurring circle of violence ... And it will take all of us together to make it through this tragedy."'

Three or four men approached the victim at the corner of Maple Avenue and Adams Boulevard in what might have been a robbery attempt and one shot him, LAPD Officer Mike Lopez told Annenberg Media. The men fled in a vehicle, police said.

"He believed in the power of music to touch lives, to heal, and to bring hope," Interim USC President Dr. Wanda M. Austin said in a statement. "He enjoyed mentoring young musicians and had a long-standing commitment to community service."

Back in 2015, Lynette Gibson McElhaney's grandson was killed in an act of gun violence.